Environmental Engineering

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All environmental engineering students complete a design project
during their senior year. This project is usually tied to an actual
environmental problem or challenge in the local area or around the
world.

Senior environmental engineering students are designing an
innovative water filtration system that uses materials locally
available in Bangladesh so that residents there can produce their
own water filters to reduce the naturally occurring arsenic
concentration in the water.

Other environmental engineering students are designing an
aquaponics system for a local non-profit center. The system
combines growing fish for human consumption with producing fruits
and vegetables. The waste products from the fish become fertilizer
for the plants, resulting in a low-cost, environmentally friendly
way to grow food and protect water quality at the same time.

Previous senior projects have included renewable energy studies
of wind energy and solar panels for the Gannon campus, studies of
the hydrology and water quality of local streams.

You Will Learn

Environmental engineering implements the tools and skills that
science and math provide to solve environmental quality problems.
Our students learn how to make water safe to drink and safe to release back into the environment.
Students also learn about how humans and the environment are
adversely affected by human activities and natural processes that
generate pollution or have some other detrimental effect. Our
environmental engineering students are actively engaged in looking
for ways to convert waste materials into useful products,
especially renewable energy. The environmental engineering program
is for students who enjoy science, are mathematically inclined and
have a passion to make the Earth a cleaner, safer, better
place.

You Will Experience

Environmental students are encouraged to find a summer
internship after their sophomore and junior years. Opportunities
for internships are available at sites including:

government agencies

local and regional industries

non-profits

privately-owned environmental companies

research institutions

You Will Achieve

Environmental engineers are in high demand. The U.S. government has forecast strong growth in
environmental engineering, more so than in most other engineering
fields. Such opportunities include, but are not limited to, the
following:

Many of our graduates choose to work for a government agency,
while others decide to continue their education in a graduate
program.

Most of our graduates go to work for private companies. Many of
these companies are consulting firms specializing in environmental
areas; but some of our graduates work in-house for larger companies
that need their own staff of environmental specialists.

You will Study

The environmental engineering curriculum varies in difficulty as
students advance through the program. Students' senior year brings
together science and math previously learned, and applies it to
various topics as students work in teams to complete their senior
design project, solving real environmental quality problems or
addressing an engineering opportunity. Environmental engineering
majors take various core and elective courses including:

ENV 306: Oceanography

This course is designed to acquaint students with the marine
environment and its associated structure. The course takes an
environmental approach, focusing on the physical, chemical and
biological properties emphasized throughout.

ENV 403: Environmental Engineering

This upper-level course applies the principles of science and
engineering to pollution management. Specifically covered in the
course are chemical kinetics, mass balance, mass transfer, water
and wastewater treatment, air pollution control and solid and
hazardous waste management.

ENV 455: Air Pollution Control Engineering

This course focuses on the technology and methodologies used to
reduce concentration levels of pollutants being released to the
atmosphere. The statutes, regulations and permitting protocol are
introduced. Integrated knowledge of fluid mechanics,
thermodynamics, chemistry and mathematics are applied. Topics
covered include the nature and dynamic behavior of particulate
matters, collection methods and analytical techniques, air
pollution control and reduction methods, and treatment technologies
and air pollution control devices.

Liberal Studies Core

The Liberal Studies Core Curriculum is one reflection of Gannon University's commitment to
its Catholic identity. The Core's design offers students a defined, integrated, shared
experience as the foundation for their undergraduate program.

You Will Earn

Salaries in the industry vary depending on the location and type
of organization.